-
UAE-Based NextGenI Closes an Acquihire deal with Pakistani Startup Roshni Rides
The trend of acqui-hiring talent for startups is relatively new especially in Pakistan where one company ‘Aqui-hires’ the talent from another company to build an in-house team, mainly to scale the product faster than they would otherwise by painstakingly hiring each individual team member.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- startups
-
New Solutions to an Old Problem: How the Internet of Things, Water Kiosks and Sensor Data are Improving Access to WASH in Kenya
When well water systems break down due to a lack of monitoring or maintenance, people can go days or even weeks without access to water for themselves and their livestock. The Kenya RAPID program seeks to solve this problem by applying innovative technology and data to improve water management and distribution. Paul Wiedmaier at Catholic Relief Services explores how the program is already making a significant impact on water access in Kenya.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications, WASH
- Tags
- data, innovation, Internet of Things, water
-
PalmPay launches in Nigeria on $40M round led by China’s Transsion
Africa-focused payment startup PalmPay has launched in Nigeria after raising a $40 million seed round led by Chinese mobile-phone maker Transsion. The investment came via Transsion’s Tecno subsidiary, with participation from China’s NetEase and wireless comms hardware firm Mediatek — a Transsion spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- fintech
-
How Do Consumers React to Psychometric-Based Credit Scoring?
Nearly 50 million Americans and literally billions more around the world have limited access to affordable credit – primarily due to a lack of credit histories. What's worse, many of these underbanked individuals are actually in decent financial standing – they simply do not have sufficiently mature credit scores. Psychometric (ie: personality-based) credit scores can address this issue – but how do customers feel about it? Saul Fine at Innovative Assessments shares results from recent surveys that aim to answer that question.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
-
Kenya passes data protection law crucial for tech investments
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday approved a data protection law which complies with European Union legal standards as it looks to bolster investment in its information technology sector.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
The Doctor Will Skype You Now: Virtual Checkups Reach Bangladesh’s Isolated Islands
Now, a new virtual medical service called Teledaktar (TD) is trying to make health care more easily accessible. Every week, TD's medical operators travel to the chars by boat, carrying a laptop, a portable printer for prescriptions and tools to run basic medical screenings such as blood pressure, blood sugar, body temperature and weight.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
-
How Do You Fight Malaria In Tanzania? With Drones!
When the specially-designed DJI Agras MG1-S drone rose over a rice field in Cheju, Tanzania and started to deploy its payload, it was the culmination of years of effort towards one goal: fighting malaria. Every year in the eastern African country of Tanzania, malaria infects more than 10 million people killing 80,000 – and until now eradication efforts have been largely focused on costly and time-consuming manual spraying.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Perspective: There’s a Lot We Still Don’t Know About Libra
Last month, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg spent over five grueling hours answering myriad questions from the members of the House Financial Services Committee on issues like election interference, hate speech, censorship and discriminatory advertising. While it was an important reminder of the many dangers that Facebook already presents to our society, we didn’t actually learn much about the hearing’s ostensible topic: Facebook’s audacious plan to create an association of big businesses to issue a new digital currency called Libra.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- cryptocurrency, fintech
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.